Monday, July 30, 2012

Maybe you’ve hired a new employee who needs training
on a software program, or maybe the company has the need to use a new program. In
the midst of running a business, how do you take the time to learn new software
yourself or teach it to others? While it needs to be done, you don’t want to
take time away from the business at hand.

If you are teaching someone the software, review all
its fundamentals to see how clear the instructions will be a new user. For
example, some programs have tags that tell the user what will happen if they
click on a certain element. A lot of programs provide prompting instructions as
the user is using features of the software. If you can, use this and other
methods to cut down on face-to-face training because that can take a lot of
time and get interrupted. If you are creating separate training materials, you
could put them into a PowerPoint presentation or use screenshots in your notes
to match the visuals to what they will see when using the software. Remember
that no matter how much is covered in training; there will be questions that
will come up later, so keep that in mind. Creating short quizzes after
different stages of the training will gage how much the person has learned and
help them remember key points.

Rather than simply enabling someone to learn the
nuts and bolts of a software program, emphasize how the software is a tool that
helps the business reach their goals. Defining processes, procedures, and
policies along with software training shows employees how their efforts
contribute to the larger effort of the business. Start with the basics and add
more in-depth training when they begin to feel confident. Also, the training
doesn’t have to be completely separate from the job they will be doing—have
them use the software for real, on the job tasks even if they need someone
there to coach them. They will be able to
do the job you hired them to sooner, rather than being sidelined until their
training is complete.

Think about who should do the training—if you choose
a veteran employee who must train someone in addition to their workload, one of
the two may suffer if you aren’t careful, so make sure their schedule can work
with this extra job. Also remember that different people learn in different ways,
through seeing, hearing, doing or a combination of those. Some people need to
know how things work and why they are done that way in order to learn
something. Formal training in isolated situations is enough to make the new
employee bored, unenthusiastic, and annoyed, so be careful to integrate training
into other tasks where they can talk to coworkers and take breaks. While you
can’t hold their hand too much, do not just place a new employee in front of a
computer with the software and tell them to just start using it. This will not
work--even online training tools need to be accompanied by answers from real
people. Use a blend of training methods to get the best results.